Door lock light



March 30, DREESE DOOR LOCK LIGHT Filed Feb. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 30, 1948. Es

DOOR LOCK LIGHT Filed Feb. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1948 UNITED STATES Delbert B. Dreese, Larned, Kane.

Application February 12, 1945, Serial No. 571, 53?

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a door lock lighting means.

An object of this invention is to provide in combination with a door handle a lighting means so that when the handle of the door is rocked, the lockassociated with the handle will be lightedin order to readily permit of the insertion of a key.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lighting means of this kind wherein the light bulb is contained entirely within the handle and will automatically be cut off from the electric circuit when the handle is in a normal position, but will be energized when the handle is rocked to a bolt operating position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of this kind which is simple in construction so that it may be readily incorporated in handles of different types at small cost and will not readily get out of order where the device is mounted on a door handle for a vehicle or the like.

With the foregoing objects and others which may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein are shown embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations, and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a door including a handle and a lock, the handle being constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view, partly diagrammatic, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a door, showing the lock-operating lever handle partly in section, and in key-hole illuminating position.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4. 4

Referring to the drawing, the numeral lil designates generally a door which has mounted therein a lock II which is operated by means of a handle l2 mounted on a polygonal shaft l3. The shaft i3 is adapted to actuate a door bolt 14 which is mounted in the door It]. The bolt operating mechanism and the lock I l are of coin ventional construction. The handle 12 is normally disposed in the present instance in a hori- CtlOll of the lock 51. A light bulb I8 is slidably mounted in the socket 5E and has wound thereabout a spring it) which contacts with the has 2:; thereof, so as to ground the base 29 to the handle iii. The spring i9 is adapted not only to ground the base 2% of the light bulb to the handle, but also to constantly urge the light bulb it in the direction of the adjacent wall 25 of the door it.

The light bulb i8 includes a contact 22 in the center of the base thereof which is insulated from the base 28 and in the normal position of the handle E2, the central contact 22 is adapted to engage in a detent or recess 23 which is formed in an insulating plate 24. The insulating plate 2 2 is provided with a projection 25 engaging through an opening in the wall 2!, and the projection or boss is substantially flush at its outer end with the outer surface of the wall 2!. The insulating plate 2 also includes an insulating bushing 22 engaging about the shaft 3 and extending through the opening 28 formed in the wall 25 so as to insulate the outer end portion of the shaft i3 from the wall 2|. A second insulating bushing engages about the inner end portion of the shaft is and is adapted to insulate the shaft from the inner wall 38 of the door it also from the structure forming the operating mechanism for the door bolt [4.

The door it is electrically connected to a ground conductor 3! to one side of a battery B, and the other side of the battery B is connected by means of a conductor 32 to the shaft 13. In this manner, when the handle 22 is in its normal inoperative position, the contact 22 will engage in the recess 23 of the insulating member 24 so that the electric circuit to the battery B will be broken. When the handle E2 is rocked downwardly at its gripping end, the inner end thereof will be rocked upwardly so as to position the window I "l in alignment with the lock mechanism H.

When contact 22 is moved out of the recess 23 this contact will Wipe over the outer surface of the door wall 2| and thereby close the electric circuit from the battery B from wall 72! through conductor St to one side of the battery and from the other side of the battery through conductor 32 to the handle l2. Handle l2 being electrically connected through spring l9 to the base 20 of the light bulb I 8 will thereby cause the light bulb to become lighted so that the rays from the light bulb will light up the lock structure H and facilitate the insertion of the key Within the keyhole.

This device can be incorporated in various types of handles, the type of handle herein shown being only one example with which the device may be associated. In View of the fact that the light bulb is normally out oil from the battery when the handle I 2 is in its normal inoperative position, there will not be any drain on the battery and the light bulb will only be lighted when the handle is rocked to a door bolt actuating position.

What is claimed is:

1. A door lock light for a metal door'having a horizontal lever handle pivoted at one end, a lock key hole in vertical alignment above the pivot of said handle, comprising a light bulb in said handle forwardly of the pivot thereof and disposed in a plane parallel to said pivot, said handle formed with an inwardly opening socket Within which said bulb is disposed, a contact on said bulb constantly engaging said door, spring means engaging said bulb and the outer end of said socket biasing said contact into engagement with said door, said handle formed with a forwardly directed opening from said first opening through which the light from said bulb may be emitted, an insulating plate on said door formed with a depression adjacent said pivot in a horizontal plane therewith, said contact engageable in said depression in the horizontal position of said lever, and an electric circuit including said door and said contact for lighting said bulb upon rocking said handle from the horizontal position thereof whereupon said contact engages said door and the light is directed through said forwardly directed opening for lighting said key hole in the vertical position of said handle.

2. A door lock light as set forth in claim 1 including insulating means between said lever handle and said door and reduced diameter coil convolutions on said spring engaging the base of said bulb constituting the contact between said bulb and said handle.

DELBERT B. DREESE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

